Editing Elephant 6 (section)

===Background and formation===
Noel Murray and Marcus Gilmer of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' note the difficulty in defining the exact parameters of the collective due to the multitude of associated acts.{{sfn|Gilmer|Murray|2012}} Each act has their own unique sound, and musicians are often members of multiple bands.{{sfn|Gilmer|Murray|2012}} This problem is compounded by the fact that members will sometimes obfuscate the truth, such as misleading a ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' reporter into believing they lived in a communal compound in Athens.{{sfn|Gilmer|Murray|2012}} In 2012, the official Elephant 6 website read: "A collective, a label ... a cult? Elephant 6 may be all of these things or none of these depending on your point of view. And we're certainly not going to try to define what it is now!"{{sfn|Gilmer|Murray|2012}}

Elephant 6 originated in [[Ruston, Louisiana]], in the late 1980s.<ref>{{harvnb|Heater|2012}}; {{harvnb|Shook|2013}}</ref> The name was occasionally used to denote [[home recording]]s made by four high school friends: [[Bill Doss]], [[Will Cullen Hart]], [[Jeff Mangum]], and [[Robert Schneider]].{{sfn|Cooper|2005|p=16}} These recordings were circulated between the four of them, and they did not seek approval from [[record label]]s or [[fanzine]]s.{{sfn|Ballance|Cook|McCaughan|2009|p=94}} Musician [[Laura Carter (musician)|Laura Carter]] said: "They were just 13-year-old boys yelling, 'Fuck your mama,' and bashing on the drums as hard as they can. It was just kids having fun, and they would fill up a whole cassette tape with this."{{sfn|Heater|2006}} When the group decided to create an imaginary label for their music, Hart came up with the name Elephant 6.{{sfn|Heater|2006}}

When the four friends graduated high school, they dispersed to different cities in the United States, but continued to mail tapes to each other.{{sfn|Ballance|Cook|McCaughan|2009|p=94}} Schneider moved to [[Denver, Colorado]] and formed a band called the Apples in 1992 with [[Jim McIntyre (musician)|Jim McIntyre]], [[Hilarie Sidney]] and [[Chris Parfitt]].{{sfn|Heater|2006}} Doss, Hart, and Mangum moved to [[Athens, Georgia]].{{sfn|Cooper|2005|p=25}} The three were drawn to the city's [[Music of Athens, Georgia|burgeoning music scene]], and played in a band called the Synthetic Flying Machine.{{sfn|Cooper|2005|p=25}} While in Athens, the group began collaborating with New York musician [[Julian Koster]]. In 1993, the Synthetic Flying Machine evolved into a band called [[the Olivia Tremor Control]], and the band gained local attention for their psychedelic sound, which was in contrast to the prevalent [[grunge]] sound of the 1990s.<ref>{{harvnb|Heater|2006}}; {{harvnb|Cooper|2005|p=26}}</ref>

In the 1990s, bands joined Elephant 6 through invitation.{{sfn|Heater|2006}} Inspired by the [[Surrealist Manifesto]]s, members of the collective issued their own [[manifesto]] in small hand-drawn catalogs, found within early releases.{{sfn|Shook|2013}} According to Schneider: "We wanted [to find] these little pockets of people in different cities who listened to [[Pavement (band)|Pavement]] and [[the Beach Boys]] and were recording on 4-tracks."{{sfn|Shook|2013}} Schneider notes that another way a band may join is by simply having a similar sound. He uses Beulah as an example, and in reference to the band's sound, he said: "This is a kindred spirit. This is Elephant 6."{{sfn|Heater|2006}}

Schneider created a record label called the Elephant 6 Recording Company as a vehicle for the Apples music, and in 1993, the first recording released on the label was an [[extended play]] titled ''[[Tidal Wave (The Apples EP)|Tidal Wave]]''.{{sfn|Shook|2013}} Around this time, Mangum left the Olivia Tremor Control, and became a vagabond.{{sfn|Cooper|2005|p=29}} While living in [[Seattle]], Mangum released the song "[[Everything Is (EP)|Everything Is]]" on [[Cher Doll Records]] in 1994, and was the first member of the collective to have their music released on a mainstream label, although the release was not directly affiliated with the Elephant 6 collective and did not feature the Elephant 6 logo.{{sfn|Ballance|Cook|McCaughan|2009|p=96}} Mangum released the song under the name Neutral Milk Hotel.{{sfn|Ballance|Cook|McCaughan|2009|p=96}} The Apples were later known as [[the Apples in Stereo]].